The Ohio State University's Initiative in Population Research (IPR), in collaboration with the Center for Human Resource Research (CHRR), seeks R21 population research center infrastructure support from Demographic and Behavioral Science Branch at NICHD/NIH. Our planning activities have a singular long-term aim: To cultivate an active and innovative research and training program centered on children, youth, and families. Our focus on children's well-being builds on IPR/CHRR's current research and training strengths, and is designed to create new and broad-based synergies that cultivate new and innovative demographic research and training at The Ohio State University. Core departments include Sociology, Economics, and Geography. Since its inception in 2000, the IPR has actively sought to merge the research activities of Sociology's family- and demographic-oriented faculty with the ongoing research traditions and activities of CHRR. The IPR has had a short but successful history. The IPR has moved forward in significant ways, both with new financial commitments from core departments, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (i.e., an Academic Enrichment Award), the Center for Biostatistics, and the University, and with broad faculty interest and involvement across many academic departments, centers, and colleges. To build on these accomplishments, this application requests infrastructure funding to develop three research cores (Administrative, Geographic Analysis, and Survey Methodology and Statistics) and a developmental core (e.g., seed monies for research, opportunities for faculty development and student training, and access to value-added data) designed to create an active multidisciplinary demographic and family research community. Each of the activities described in this application serve a longer-term goal: to prepare IPR/CHRR's faculty for a successful R24. [unreadable] [unreadable]